179: The reign of Emperor Qin Shihuang

For several months, the entire Great Qin was recruiting captives.

For a time, all the commanderies and counties were bustling, as there were simply too many captives!

A single county town could see hundreds of thousands of displaced people emerge at once!

It's hard to imagine how many villages players must have built to generate so many displaced people.

What a disaster!

But everything has two sides; while this caused headaches everywhere, it also provided Great Qin with enough labor.

What's more, it was free, two-year, right-less labor!

This made the officials ecstatic!

Projects that had been delayed due to insufficient manpower were now all underway!

This wasn't enough; because there were so many people, local Government were also busily launching new projects to meet their needs, which greatly improved the infrastructure across Great Qin!

Nowadays, when Great Qin's common people go to the Government to perform corvée labor, the minor officials will shoo them away.

"Go away! Can't you see I'm busy taking on corvée labor? Why are you coming over to join the fun!"

"I'm here to do corvée labor!"

"What kind of corvée labor are you? Look at these bandits; when would it be your turn?

Hurry home and spend time with your wife, make a few more children!

I'm telling you, a prosperous era has arrived!

Quickly let your children come and enjoy the blessings!"

This scene was happening all over Great Qin.

And on the live broadcast interface, the top ten popular streams no longer included adult content.

Because after half a year of watching, as the live content became more diverse, adult content was no longer popular.

Currently, half of the popular live streams were broadcasting the process of corvée labor.

"Starting today, we're building the Grand Canal!

I, Xiao Li the Artisan, will lead everyone to experience the grandeur of the Grand Canal!"

"Is the streamer joking? Who doesn't know the Grand Canal was built by Emperor Yang of Sui, Yang Guang!"

"Is it that Yang Guang who killed his brother Yang Yong, and then a thousand years later, a man named Yang Yong dug up his grave with an excavator?"

"What's the matter? If Emperor Yang of Sui can build the Grand Canal, why can't our Qin Shi Huang? What's the difference?"

"The Grand Canal began construction in 486 BC, comprising three sections: the Sui-Tang Grand Canal, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and the Eastern Zhejiang Grand Canal, with a total length of 2700 kilometers, spanning over 10 latitudes of the Earth..."

"Don't lecture, upstairs, I just want to say, The First Emperor is awesome!"

And what was happening near the Great Wall Legion was the construction of the Qin Straight Road!

The Qin Straight Road, which was historically built three years later, now had enough manpower and could start at any time.

And the next popular live stream was from a familiar face.

"Everyone, look! This is Epang Palace. The foundation has already been laid.

The foundation alone is six meters deep, and I heard the Artisan say it covers 150,000 square kilometers, equivalent to twenty Forbidden Cities!

It took us half a year to lay this foundation!

Next, the main hall will be built immediately.

In two more years, you can imagine how magnificent this place will be!

The 'Number One Palace Under Heaven' that later generations couldn't see will be shown to you by me, General Yu, from its inception to completion!" a person excitedly showed everyone.

"Why isn't General Yu a General anymore, but an Artisan?"

"General Yu, don't work too hard; twenty-three hours a day is enough!"

"Exactly, exactly, turn off the stream and quickly build Epang Palace. Historically, only the main hall was built. I want to see the full view of Epang Palace in the game!"

"How about this, a benefit for the family: I'll name a number, two months, build it!"

"Exactly, exactly, get to work! Even the donkey on the production team doesn't rest as much as you do!"

General Yu looked at the jeering crowd, his face bitter on the surface, but his heart was leaping with joy!

Because he discovered that live streaming the construction of Epang Palace was much more popular than live streaming fights and killings!

This made him immensely grateful to Baron Lin Yue, who sent him here initially; he felt that Lin Yue was his benefactor!

During the Qin Dynasty, Guan Yu did not yet exist, so naturally, there was no custom of worshipping Guan Gong.

Therefore, General Yu commissioned an Artisan to create a statue of Lin Yue.

Now, every morning at dawn, the first thing he does is lead all his brothers to burn three sticks of incense, asking for his blessing!

Even though life wasn't too good now and work was tiring, he was still grateful to Lin Yue because Lin Yue hadn't deceived him!

Although as captives, they ate worse than dogs, and their living quarters were drafty, cold in winter and hot in summer, it was still considered to be provided with food and lodging!

Although they slept later than dogs and woke earlier than chickens, it could still be called a regular routine!

What's more, he had gained a lot of popularity from his live stream. After all, a large number of players were extremely enthusiastic about his 'Number One Palace Under Heaven,' Epang Palace, which never materialized in history!

This brought him a lot of popularity and money!

Even the important person in reality who had contacted him previously because of Xing Daorong reached out to him again, hoping he could get the construction blueprints, promising a hefty reward!

This was also the reason he was determined to stay here!

"My friends, even if I, General Yu, die of exhaustion here, I will build a magnificent Epang Palace for Great Qin!" General Yu promised the players in the live stream!

Outside the frame, a voice sounded: "Little Yu, don't be lazy, come and work!"

"Alright!" Then General Yu quickly ran over, then suddenly stopped and said:

"Friends, hit follow, don't get lost!"

Then the live stream cut off. Lin Yue found it a bit amusing, so he swiped to the next live stream.

Among the top ten, two were live streams guiding players through the scenery within Great Qin's cities.

Some players must have used some underhanded methods to avoid corvée labor and directly obtained household registration.

Because in a game with a hundredfold population and map, Great Qin couldn't be perfect in every aspect, and it was inevitable that some officials would succumb to temptation; this has been the case since ancient times.

After all, even if players became Mountain Bandit, some had accumulated considerable wealth.

Using this to tempt officials, throughout various dynasties, many officials could not resist the temptation.

Of course, some players still held out in the mountains, but their momentum was gone, and they couldn't cause much trouble.

Lin Yue took a look, then closed the live stream interface.

After all, the scenes in the live stream held no appeal for him.

He had witnessed countless times the thrilling scenes of two armies clashing.

armor, warhorses, long sabers, arrow rain, blood, and honor—these were the unique romance of a man!

These live streams of various scenes of Great Qin didn't even pique Lin Yue's interest as much as adult content live streams in the dead of night.

Although Lin Yue, as a respectable person, had never watched those live streams where a few people gathered in a room.

Then Lin Yue opened several letters mailed by Feng Cai, set two aside, and called a personal guard to deliver them to Pan Feng and Xing Daorong.

No wonder there were always two letters, and sometimes Xia Qing would blush. It turned out Pan Feng had made his move quietly first!

He had been kept in the dark, which made him very unhappy. Why was he the only single person!

He sighed and tore open a letter to read.

It turned out that this time, the surrender after the mountain blockade had no effect on Wang Hu and others, because they needed grain for winter, Feng Cai had already transported the surplus grain to the mountains during the autumn harvest, so their grain reserves were very sufficient.

Moreover, Crane Wild City, from top to bottom, had already been opened up by Jiang Gan and Zhang Wenfeng. Wang Hu even took this opportunity to annex several large guilds, becoming a warlord dominating one area.

At the same time, Feng Cai's letter also stated that the town was developing rapidly and was about to be upgraded to a second-level town, reassuring Lin Yue.

The rest were some minor, insignificant but interesting matters; it seemed Feng Cai had put thought into it.

Lin Yue took up his pen and wrote a reply, mainly to Wang Hu, advising him not to be too prominent, not to be the 'cone that sticks out,' lest he be plucked out.

After all, with The First Emperor's awe-inspiring might currently at its peak, when Mountain Bandit were rampant everywhere before, he might not have noticed a Mountain Bandit of his scale.

But now that Mountain Bandit forces were much weaker than before, if he were to be noticed one day, the only outcome would be death.

What's more, General of Liaodong Li Chengliang was not very harmonious with him. Now, with Fan Changling, City Lord and Chen Dubao, Commandant of Crane Wild City covering for him, it was fine, but if Li Chengliang were to find out one day, the outcome would also be miserable.

After all, Li Chengliang's life was not easy now either, and he was currently seething with anger with nowhere to vent.

Because a few days ago, Li Chengliang was again reprimanded by His Majesty; if not for someone in the court interceding for him, he would probably have been directly imprisoned in the heavenly dungeon and executed.

But there was no unified explanation for the specific reason. Some said it was because he oppressed the common people, some said he embezzled Soldier's military pay, some said he privately raised personal troops with intentions of rebellion, and some even said he colluded with foreign tribes to foster bandits for his own gain!

Because the Jurchen leader Nurhaci, right under Li Chengliang's nose, unified the Jianzhou Jurchen and was now advancing towards the Haisi Jurchen!

But Li Chengliang, using the pretexts of rampant banditry in Liaodong and difficulty in deploying troops in winter, kept delaying action and ignored Nurhaci's rise.

Finally, His Majesty issued an imperial decree, stripping him of his earldom entirely. Now, he merely held the title of General of Liaodong, but had acquired a major hidden danger.

That was the young, ambitious General Gongsun Zan of the White Horse Righteous Cavalry, whom he had suppressed for many years, who had now become a General of one of the armies in the Liaodong Commandery Garrison Army, commanding one-third of the Liaodong Commandery's Soldier, subtly posing a threat to him!

These were all recorded in the secret letters sent by Shen Qin and what She Jian had told him in their casual chats.

But neither of them was sure what exactly led to such an outcome.

As for intending rebellion, no one would believe it. While The First Emperor was alive, if Li Chengliang dared to raise an uprising, he would be immediately seized by his subordinates and sent before His Majesty!

So, the most common speculation for Li Chengliang being reprimanded was fostering bandits for his own gain.

But some also felt sorry for him, because as a General of Liaodong, he shouldn't be punished just because a foreign tribe grew stronger, especially since the Jurchen had not harassed the border; it was merely an internal Nuzhen Tribe conflict.

Of course, this rational idea was put forward by a young censor who was new to the world.

Although he interceded for Li Chengliang with the intention of befriending Li Rusong of the Garrison Army.

But unfortunately, in Great Qin, where Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism, and Legalism, and a hundred schools of thought contended, his remarks found no market, and he was ultimately reprimanded along with Li Chengliang.

At the same time, officials silently sighed that while Great Qin's might dominated the four seas and His Majesty's awe-inspiring power was at its peak, His Majesty's thoughts were becoming increasingly inscrutable.

Shen Qin's separate secret letter also recorded some minor matters.

For example, the common people in nearby villages all wanted to marry their daughters into the town.

For example, Feng Cai was so dedicated to the town's construction that Mother Han's gaze towards Feng Cai always held a hint of resentment.

Lin Yue smiled after reading it, then continued his cultivation.